Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

No, it should be said that these auras have always lingered here, but no one was able to sense them until they were revealed.

Slowly, they turned their heads.

The lifelike and beautiful paper figures, identical to those of Maki, Chika, and the others, stopped and all turned to look at Takami inside the house.

【Hehehehehe...】

Then, the girl's laughter rang out from in front of Gao Hai, from behind him, and from all around him.

Chapter Nineteen: Curse, Twisting, Surge, Horror, Truth, and Destruction

There was absolutely no warning.

By the time they realized it, the situation had already quickly deteriorated into a critical state.

Amidst the intense chill, the paper figures rapidly approached, each with a smile on its face, each displaying unparalleled friendliness, and each slowly drawing closer to him.

What the hell does this happen?

A sharp, stinging pain spread through Gao Hai's brain.

His thoughts became momentarily confused, to the point that Gao Hai almost lost control of his body and fell to the ground.

Click!

However, as the mental fragments in Gao Hai's brain exploded to protect his mind, his thinking ability was restored to a certain extent. Then, Gao Hai released the power of the Crimson Domain without hesitation, instantly covering the entire room with scarlet color.

Hehehehe...

Laughter gently brushed past my ears.

Those paper figures failed to break through Gao Hai's blood-red domain.

But he could still hear laughter, laughter echoing around him.

Why is there a sound?

Even though I've already activated the Crimson Domain, why are there still sounds around me?

And just now… the black watch’s mental link was hacked? How is that possible? How could a strange creature have such power? But if the mental link wasn’t hacked, why did I hear Maki and Miko’s voices simultaneously in front of me and in the mental link?

The mental link of the Black Watch is impossible to hack.

Gao Hai calmed down in an instant, taming the panic he had felt due to the sudden and violent attack.

Perhaps as he progresses further into the "Sacrifice Game," he will one day face an existence that can truly rival the Black Watch, but that will never be now.

The [Infant Cry Village], which is currently only just beginning to be explored and still has many unknowns, is still unclear about its mechanics, but its difficulty should remain within the range of Red Moon-level dungeons. It may exceed the difficulty of Red Moon-level dungeons that players have explored so far, but it will not be so outrageous as to allow players to attack the Black Watch.

Therefore, he himself was the one who was hacked.

The messages transmitted through the mental link of the black watch cannot be hacked, but as the recipient of the information, Gao Hai himself is not an impregnable fortress.

Even though his mental strength had surpassed that of all players in the world, even though he possessed several Red Moon-level blessings unheard of by most players, and even though he had obtained a Root Form and was beginning to undergo a fundamental transformation, he was still not invincible in the face of monsters. For one thing, cursed monster powers could easily take effect on Gao Hai, and he often didn't even realize it until he was on the verge of death.

Because I used the Pen of the Obsessive to establish a connection with the strange creature behind me, attempting to obtain clues from it, I was attacked by its power, which I wouldn't normally encounter, and was corrupted by it, causing some kind of leakage of the information my mind received?

If that's the case, what's the reason for this power's operation? And why did these paper figures appear in front of me after the leak? Did they directly replace Maki and the others? Or did the space undergo abnormal changes after the ghost story's power was activated? And after all, isn't this house a safe zone that can be temporarily taken refuge in the rule list? Why was I still targeted by the ghost?

Gao Hai suddenly recalled the sickle that flew towards him and pierced his head when he first entered Liu Family Village.

Neither Maki nor Chika were attacked; only he himself became the target.

Although all three of them experienced the same time travel from [Li Family Village] to [Liu Family Village], it seems that only Gao Hai was marked by something, which caused him to receive special attention and use up his Undying Blessing within the first few hours.

At the time, Gao Hai simply thought that since he was the last one there, and everyone else had already entered the safe zone—the residential building—while he still had one foot outside the door, he had triggered the rule. But now it seems that it's not just that simple.

If that's the case, then where exactly does the problem lie?

Is it a matter of the identity being portrayed?

After all, due to a certain hidden feature of the black watch, I would gain a special identity every time I entered a dungeon. It was the same when I used the Pen of the Obsessive to sense that strange creature. It was obvious that I had vaguely triggered a special role-playing identity.

No, that's not right, it can't be that reason.

The special identity I acquire within the instance will not be truly effective until I actually come into contact with the key items or the key obsession, and until I complete the "confirmation" of this identity. Even if I can obtain some dubious information and guidance through it, I cannot truly activate this identity, and therefore will not suffer any negative effects.

So where exactly does the problem lie?

Did I do something special that no one else did?

Or is it some kind of peculiarity of mine that made me more targeted?

In the instant that the crimson domain's light spread and was released, Gao Hai was thinking rapidly, trying hard to recall all the doubts.

But such time was running out, because in order to survive, he had to focus on other things.

【Hahahahaha...】

The sound of laughter rang out clearly once again.

The paper figures that were repelled by the crimson domain were easily torn to shreds, falling to the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.

Despite being non-human monsters, these things are unusually fragile, which is not the strength that a Red Moon-level evil monster should have.

But Gao Hai couldn't relax, because he could feel that as a certain eroding force gradually spread, his body was already experiencing some adverse reactions.

"puff--"

A mouthful of foul blood, mixed with soaked paper scraps, fell down.

Gao Hai lowered his head and looked at his pale fingers. His skin was now cracked with large and small fissures, like a piece of paper about to be torn apart.

That was indeed paper.

And it wasn't just his own fingers, but his entire body, and parts of his internal organs, that were transformed into paper at this moment, becoming the same material as those paper figures.

"Cough...cough..."

Almost the instant I became aware of it, my breathing began to become erratic.

Gao Hai clutched his chest, his vision suddenly went black, and part of his alveoli were transformed into paper. As a result, every breath he took was accompanied by intense pain, and the tearing of those papery lungs caused wounds to appear and blood to gush out, causing Gao Hai's lungs to begin to fill with blood.

For an ordinary person, this would undoubtedly be a life-threatening situation that would quickly become fatal. But Gao Hai was still able to keep moving, forcefully breathe using his superhuman physical abilities, and even manage to suppress the bleeding in his lungs.

The rescue team badge quietly reappeared and was pinned to Gao Hai's chest, followed by a slightly damp rescue team uniform covering his body.

The body's conversion rate was immediately suppressed, and the pain was relieved at that moment.

However, the torn skin did not grow back.

Or rather, what grows back is not the shape that the skin and flesh should have.

Gao Hai looked down at his fingers, at his skin that had turned into paper and torn apart as he clenched his fist.

At this moment, under the power of the rescue team badge, his skin was healing, healing into new paper-like skin, rather than normal human skin.

He realized that the concept of himself had been distorted.

This bizarre paper doll curse directly altered concepts like his skin and flesh. Therefore, even with restorative items, he couldn't restore his damaged body structure; he could only allow the cursed structure to reappear.

Even if this transformative power is temporarily suppressed, as long as a way to break it cannot be found, Gao Hai's body will still be slowly transformed into the shape of a paper doll, losing its human organizational structure from the inside out, and becoming one of those moving paper dolls.

Is the so-called Paper Doll Village transformed under such a cursed power? In other words, these paper dolls were actually once living people? No, that's not right. They are derivative monsters, byproducts that can be completely destroyed. I haven't encountered any real monsters in [Liu Family Village] yet, so it's not time to draw any conclusions about the situation.

Andres's blessing power was activated once again.

Gao Hai didn't hesitate to teleport back to Zhen Fei and the others. He knew that there was a paper doll on their side that looked like him. He had been cursed here and his body was being transformed little by little. They might also be in danger. He had to get back as soon as possible.

"Well……"

The power of the blessing failed to activate.

Gao Hai's thoughts were forcibly interrupted, and his whole body stiffened for a moment. Then his hair and face turned into paper-like structures, and his body also showed more obvious paper-like characteristics.

He cannot teleport there.

He cannot leave this village.

He was not allowed to do so. The moment he made such an attempt, the moment he wanted to "leave this place," the power of the curse would begin to spread wildly, erupting within his body at ten or even a hundred times its original intensity. Furthermore, his thoughts would be severed by the intense power of the curse, causing the blessing he intended to activate to be interrupted due to the user's loss of consciousness.

Why……

Gao Hai's breathing became even heavier.

He heard a gasp in the mental link, and through the power of the blessing, he could confirm that Maki was fiercely fighting the paper figure, and the battle might not be going very well. This was because Maki, Chika, and Miko were still tense and anxious, with a growing sense of fear.

{Uh, what... what's going on?!}

Kita Ikuyo's exclamation finally rang out. From the moment the anomaly occurred, to Takami deploying his domain, to the failure of the blessing and the deepening of the curse, only a few seconds had passed. For Kita, whose consciousness and thinking abilities had only been partially restored, she simply couldn't react in such a short time, and only now did she belatedly realize that something serious had happened.

{It's the power of a curse. My body is gradually turning into a paper doll, and this curse doesn't allow me to leave this village. Otherwise, my thinking will be interrupted, and I won't be able to concentrate on activating the blessing.}

While explaining the situation to Kita Ikuyo via the mental link, Takami slowly walked out of the house and came outside.

{How could it be the power of a curse? Is it because of using that pen just now?}

Kita's expression turned serious. As a genuine Red Moon-level player, she was well aware of the terrifying nature of the Red Moon-level curse.

{No, that might be a trigger, but that's not the key. I can sense that the strange creature I empathized with using the Pen of the Obsessive doesn't possess particularly powerful strength; in this instance, it's probably just a low-level existence. It's likely merely a remnant of consciousness trapped in the room, and my seating position just happened to trigger it.}

Gao Hai shook his head and blinked with great effort, but his vision only became increasingly blurry.

He knew that his eyes were gradually turning into paper.

The strange curse power, which could have been barely suppressed by the rescue team badge, is now reacting violently to Gao Hai's attempt to teleport, and is beginning to transform into him at an increasingly rapid pace.

Within five minutes at most, I will lose my sight. After that, I will be able to maintain my mobility for a short period. You will be responsible for describing the surroundings to me and giving me directions. Now I need to get out of this house and into the street, so I will need your guidance.

Despite his rapidly deteriorating health, Gao Hai's tone remained incredibly calm and composed, as if he felt nothing at all.

I understand, I will be responsible for providing guidance.

Kita Ikuyo didn't say anything more about it. Although she was still a little confused, she understood what she should do.

"call……"

Gao Hai took a deep breath, then spat out some paper scraps and blood.

He took out the "radium water," his obsession, from his watch, then strode forward and quickly reached the doorway.

Although much of his flesh had been transformed into paper, Gao Hai found that his mobility was not significantly affected. The paper seemed to have become one with his body, as if it were his body's natural form.

Why is this happening?